Revelations
by Fezzes at 221b
Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, mildly infested with Zombies, Jace, Alec and Izzy make their way across New York, searching for shelter and survivors. Along the way they find friends and lovers, lose each other, and kill a lot of zombies. Will they find each other and safety? Will they make it out alive? (Also posted on AO3 under same name)
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I told myself that We Are Gonna Be Friends was going to be my last story on this site and possibly my last Fanfiction work forever, or least a long time, but I got this idea and couldn't help but write it! So this will be my,,, second to last piece?**  
 **So to everyone who has stuck with me over the past 2+ years and even people who have only read this story, thank you all so much!**

 **Fez.**

Jace had to admit, he did kind of see this coming.  
The zombie apocalypse was foretold in the media- video games he had never been allowed to play, in horror and comedy films, in books; everything.

When the first reports- rumours really- had reached Brooklyn about a strange virus spreading across Africa and then Europe and now America, no one had really thought much about it. People had assumed the scientists would step in with a vaccine and cure before the end of the summer, and that the American people could go on living their lives without any fear.

However even when those rumours had first started to fly, life changed for Jace and his adoptive siblings Alec and Izzy. His parents, Maryse and Robert had always been rather… eccentric. Of course he loved them, and owed them for bringing him into their home and bringing him up, but they were definitely strange.  
They believed the apocalypse was coming and for every weekend since Jace could remember, they had been going camping or hunting or some other survivalist military-type training that ranged from starting a fire with just wood, or foraging for berries or advanced hand to hand combat.  
It was strange but fun and him, Alec and Izzy had never really believed what they were doing would actually be used, much less in a zombie-infested world. Sure some parts came in handy: when Jace was showing off his muscles to the ladies, or when Alec was being bullied for liking boys and had spectacularly fended them off before Jace could even step forward or when Izzy had been groped by some disgusting destined-highschool-dropout and had punched him twice in the face before the dumb brute could even blink.

All those years of training- no matter how military or exhausting or irritating it was for Jace- had paid off, as when the first zombies began shuffling down the streets of the city Jace loved. For all of their insistence of their children doing this training, Maryse and Robert were killed quickly. The zombies were dumb but they were not the zombies that the media had spread. They were hunters, they could run for miles when in kill mode, they were fast and would hunt out sources of loud sounds, and smell blood from blocks away and when you underestimated them, they could and would kill you.  
Their group had seen their fair share of death already:  
Max, little Max who insisted on bringing his manga books on every camping and hunting trip they went on, had been at school when the hordes really hit the city. Teachers had locked children in the main hall for their safety, but zombies had burst through and the family found little Max with his head caved in and blood on his knuckles from where he had tried to fend the zombies off.  
When Maryse had been too slow to dodge a zombie that quickly took the chance to sink its teeth in her neck the infection had set in in mere seconds. The bullet that lodged in her forehead stopped the virus pretty quickly however. That was when they still didn't really know what they were doing, or how advanced the zombies were.  
Robert had followed only weeks after, when their small group were searching for food that hadn't already been ransacked from stores. The zombies had found them and cornered them all, before Robert- never the same after shooting his wife- began shooting through the wall of zombies and urged his children to run.  
Alec, Jace and Izzy had made it out that day, but Robert did not.  
And since then, they had been even more careful- carrying swords and knives not guns, rationing and only leaving their new home at the top of an apartment block for food and to scour for survivors that they could help. They knew that staying in the city was dangerous, the country had less zombies but no resources. If they didn't immediately find a good place to stay, they would starve or freeze.  
Plus, they felt they had a duty to help any people they found. They knew they were lucky that it just so happened that their… strange parents prepared them for an apocalypse their entire lives. So, they gave out food when they could spare it; directions to safe places across New York and tips on how to avoid zombies. They'd helped a few people but had no idea if those people had actually made it to safety.

And that's what they were doing now, backpacks strapped to their backs with all their worldly goods stepping through the rubble that was left when people went crazy at the thought of the end of the world. Now graffiti and ash where buildings had burnt and crashed cars filled the streets. Windows of shops were broken, with their insides ransacked for goods. Fools had taken TVs and other electronics, money from cash registers and materialistic items.  
Whatever had happened to those people, Jace hoped they were happy with their 30-inch plasma TV in a zombie-ridden world without need for money.  
"Guys, I'm picking something up." Izzy called, her voice low. There was no need to yell in the silent streets unless you had a death wish. She was examining her radio, tuning it with a frown on her face. Sadly, no radio stations still played the Top 40, but there was definitely some message crackling through the speaker.  
"Hello. Is there anyone out there?" the voice called, amidst a constant fuzz. "This is a call for help. We are in the 'scraper on 40th street. We are not zombies but are in need of any resources you can spare." The voice dimmed into a hum as Izzy shook the machine.  
Alec peered around a corner to check there were no interested zombies and turned back to Izzy and Jace. Jace noticed with some fondness that Alec needed a haircut. The length of his fringe was reminding him of Alec's forbidden emo phase past. Jace knew he needed a haircut too, let alone a good wash. He glanced at himself in the dusty reflection of a shattered window. His face was a lot thinner and his hair was curling at the ends into a halo around his face.  
"Reply and say we're on our way. "Alec instructed Izzy, and her face screwed up into a glare as she squinted at her older brother. Jace could see one of their usual sibling bickering arguments coming on and rolled his eyes, walking almost out of earshot to scope out the street for any stalking zombies.  
"Alec it's a receiver not a transmitter. We're just going to show up and make him let us in." she replied, rolling her eyes. Alec gave her an unimpressed look, walking in the direction of 40th street.  
"What if it's a trap?" he asked, and Jace jogged lightly to catch up again, his sheathed knife bumping his knee- a steady reassurance.  
"He sounds like a nerd, we can take him." Jace shrugged, taking the device from Izzy much to her annoyance. He fiddled more with the dials and the voice resumed, but clearer.  
"Hello, if anyone is out there, please find us at the burnt tower on 40th street." Izzy rolled her eyes.  
"It's only clearer because we're closer." She stated, and Jace gave a quiet scoff.  
"He keeps saying 'we' and 'us' there's more than one of them." Alec warned.  
The skyscraper was just ahead of them. Almost a quarter of it had been ruined, charred remains jutting into the sky. While it didn't seem the best place, it was safer from zombies (stairs were not their thing) It seemed these people at least had common sense.  
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Izzy insisted forging ahead, and Alec rolled his eyes, feeling like the whole situation was already doomed, but following his sister anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

The front door was not barricaded in anyway, unless the pathetic pile of wood that Alec kicked away in seconds counted as a barricade. They walked in, spreading out across the lobby to check there was nobody or no zombies hiding.  
"Hello?" Izzy called in to the reception area, and then up the stairs. Jace prodded the elevator button, knowing it would not work. Alec leaned over the reception desk, grabbing a newspaper dating back a few months, and a stack of note paper for kindling. Jace looked around but there was nothing else to ransack, except the two armchairs in the lobby. He had been thinking that their new flat needed some homely touches.

Izzy was starting up the stairs, the one pistol they had in her hands as she stared up the flights of stairs for any sign of anyone or anything.  
"Hello? Is anyone up there? We got your radio message, please identify yourselves!" She called, before listening hard for any zombie moaning.

"Hello? Hi! Hi, I'm the radio person!" A voice called back, echoing in the stairwell. Izzy pointed the gun up, watching as a boy leaned over the banister on the top level of the building. His hand came up to keep his glasses on his face, and his fringe flopped in his eyes as he peered down. Izzy continued up the stairs, gun trained unfalteringly on his face, just in case. Jace and Alec followed her, each carefully scoping out the boy.

"Stay where you are." Izzy instructed him and even at this distance Jace could see how his eyes widened as Izzy thumbed back the safety on the gun.

"Is that a- Oh god, Clary they have a gun." He leaned back to look alarmed at someone.  
"Stay where you are. Clary, I want to see you too." Izzy continued. A ginger haired girl poked her head cautiously over the rail too.  
"Hello? We don't have anything to take, please don't kill us." Clary called down, fear clear on her face.  
"We're not going to hurt you unless you try and attack us. This is just to make sure we're all safe. Is there anyone else up there with you?" Alec asked as loudly as he dared.  
The boy shook his head firmly, holding on even tighter to his glasses. "No, I swear it's just us."

It was a long hike up the stairs, and Jace's neck was beginning to hurt from looking up at the boy. When they finally reached the top, Clary and the boy stepped back, hands up in the universal 'I surrender' gesture. Alec peeled off from the group to check over the floor.  
The boy risked looking away from Izzy and her gun to fret over Alec as he circled a mound of various electronic devices. Computers were hooked up to other screens and machines in a complicated tangle. "Please don't touch anything! There's nothing dangerous there." He called, worry for his computers clear on his face. Alec didn't show any sign of hearing him but didn't touch anything.

"What is your name?" Izzy asked the boy, who glanced away from his machines for a moment.  
"I'm Simon. This is Clary." Simon said, looking increasingly worried over the situation. Clary gave a small wave, without lowering her arms.  
Izzy nodded slowly, but it was only when Alec gave her the thumbs up that she lowered her gun but didn't holster it just yet.  
"I'm Izzy, this is Jace and that is Alec." Jace gave them both a cool eyebrow raise before scanning the room and spying a familiar blue box and leaving Izzy with the survivors. "Are those PopTarts?"

Clary turned around, an annoyed look on her face. "They're min- yeah. Yeah they are." She rolled her eyes and turned back to Izzy. "Are we free?" she asked. Izzy nodded, giving up on the whole aloof dangerous survivors schtick as Jace sat down with a pack of Strawberry Jam Pop tarts to squint at Simon's computer stuff and Alec stared over his shoulder, breaking off a piece of pastry as he examined the machines.  
"How long have you guys been here?" Izzy asked, admiring how Clary and Simon had found beanbag chairs and dragged them to the top of this tower and then admiring the comfiness of said beanbag chair.  
Clary sat next to Jace and took the remaining Poptart out of his hand, ignoring his shocked face. "We've been here about a month. We were at my house, and gathered up as many resources as we could. It was Simon's idea to head here to stay out of reach of the zombies." Jace gave an impressed nod to Simon who smirked and waggled his fingers.  
"I only knew that because of long hours spent playing zombie shooter games." He smirked, looking far too proud of himself and Jace wondered if he could take back that impressed nod. Alec nodded thoughtfully.  
"You did say he sounded like a nerd, Jace." He stated and Simon's smile dropped.  
"Are you guys here to help or…?" Clary asked, glaring at Alec.  
"Can't you scavenge yourselves?" Izzy asked, mostly curious.  
"We don't have any weapons. And we're not dumb enough to go out there without a weapon." Simon explained. "Not all of us are gun-toting Americans."  
"Are you not American?" Jace asked and Simon gritted his teeth a little.  
"I am, but the point is, we don't have guns, let alone know how to use them."  
Izzy decided to step in before they turned to blows.

"We can get you guys some food and stuff, but what's in it for us?" She asked, crossing her arms with a shrewd look.  
Simon and Clary exchanged a look, seeming to have a whole conversation in just looks. Jace sat back, watching the two of them with a single raised eyebrow. Alec looked similarly unimpressed, but that may have been because there were no Poptarts left.  
Finally they turned back to the siblings. "Simon's really good with technology, anything you need: WiFi, electricity, radio signal, even some explosives." Clary was clearly proud of her… friend Jace could tell.  
"Explosives?" Jace probed and Simon shrugged, cheeks flushed slightly.  
"Misspent youth?" he tried and Jace shrugged. They needed any help they could get.  
He slapped his knees as he stood up, heading over to where they dropped their rucksacks on their way in. Alec and Izzy were following his lead, and he guessed they had the same idea as he did.  
Clary was watching him as he pulled on his rucksack, incredulously. "You're not going to help?"  
There was definitely fear in her voice, and Jace knew it was because she and Simon couldn't manage much longer alone.  
"We're going out to get you princesses some food." Jace explained, and Clary stood up, obviously not wanting to be called a princess.  
"Is that it?" Simon asked, surprised at how readily the three were to help them. Izzy shrugged and gave him a smile, a smile that had made all the boys at her school weak. It seemed to work on Simon too.  
"We try to help people. That's why we're still in the city and not out in the country." She explained and Clary turned to face Jace.  
"I can come with you. Just give me a weapon and I can help." Simon did not like the sound of this idea by the look on his face. Jace wasn't too fond of it either.  
"Do you know how to use any weapons?" he asked and Clary faltered.  
"I can try!" she said determinedly and Jace was sure that she would, she did not seem weak by any stretch. Jace was all about that feminism equality but that didn't mean he was going to let Clary fight zombies when she had not experience.  
"I think you should stay here. You guys need to pack up, everything you can carry and need, so when we come back we can all leave." Izzy said and Clary frowned slightly but backed down.  
"Fine. But you have to come back for us."  
Jace gave a small snort and pretended he didn't at Clary's glare. "Of course princess."


	3. Chapter 3

With their packs more or less full with food Alec, Jace and Izzy turned back to the scraper, bickering among themselves like usual. There were almost no zombies around and the usually dark mood was somewhat lifted, with the knowledge of new friends and food.

However, that was dashed in moments, as the radio on Izzy's hip crackled frantically.

"Izzy!... Jace there are…. Hurry please… so many…" Clary's voice faded in and out and with barely a glance at each other, the three began to sprint to the sky scraper.

Before they had even entered the lobby they could tell there was a problem. Hordes of zombies were fighting to get into the doors, not caring about limbs that were torn off by other frenzied monsters or by the sharp shards of glass that were still in the windows and doors.

They could hear Clary screaming inside, and Simon yelling with pain and fear. The three began slashing with their swords through the zombies, which were all mostly too dumb to turn attention from the two humans inside to the people who were currently slicing through their ranks.

A zombie tried to bite Izzy but she sliced its head off easily, her mouth thinned into a line to prevent any blood or zombie gore getting in.

They managed to get inside, to find even more Undead clawing at Clary who was trying to fend them off with a wireless keyboard. Simon was… nowhere to be seen.

"Get Clary out! I'll find Simon." Jace yelled, his hair dripping unpleasantly with blood and rotting skin. Izzy dispatched the few zombies around Clary, grabbing her and the backpack next to her and fighting her way back outside.

Clary was pulling against, looking frantically back into the building for Simon. "I can't go, I need- I have to find Simon!" she yelled and Izzy held her hand over her mouth as they got outside.

"Be quiet, we don't need more zombies here. Alec and Jace are finding him." She tried to soothe her, itching to go back and help her brothers, but knew that Clary would probably dive back into the frenzy for Simon.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, eyes trained on the building for any sign of Alec or Jace or Simon.

Clary was crying as she shook her head, obviously distraught. "I don't even know, we were in the lobby packing up and all of a sudden I could hear them, and Simon was yelling for me to get back and there were so many of them." She broke off into tears and Izzy patted her shoulder gently. She wasn't really good with this whole emotion thing. Her parents weren't really _those_ sorts of parents, all touchy-feely, and Alec didn't rant to her because of his whole big cool older brother thing of his. And Jace hid his feelings from everyone, not just her. She just hoped Jace and Alec came back soon.

"Simon!" Jace yelled, not bothered about attracting more zombies. He peered up the stairs, remembering just hours before but no dark-haired nerd appeared. Alec was looking around too, kicking over zombie corpses just in case.

"Clary…" came a faint, laboured voice and Jace turned around immediately, him and Alec both narrowing in on the reception area. Alec slid over the counter in a way that made Jace jealous.

Simon was leaning against a wall, fists weakly beating on the zombie- one of the last ones it seemed- that had him pinned.

Simon was bleeding down one side of his face, hair matted, and his glasses were missing an arm but managed to stay on. The zombies mouth was chewing at his neck vampire-style and his eyes were full of pain. Jace couldn't help but stare at the scene for a moment. He'd seen a lot of gore, but not usually from someone he really knew.

"Take care of her. I love her." Simon wheezed, his eyes fixed on the two of them as they didn't move to help him, out of shock.

Alec snapped into action, slicing the zombie's head off and then knocking the head off of Simon's neck, which it was still gorily attached.

"You're going to be okay." Jace started, but it was already too late for Simon. He gave Jace a pained, accepting look and slid down the wall, his hand cupping the hole in his neck.

"Look after Clary." He told them one last time, a begging tone in his voice and his eyes glazed over. Alec looked back at Jace, who was pale.

"He's going to turn." Alec stated, and Jace nodded but he didn't know what to do.

When his father killed his mother, it had been okay, in the crudest form of the word because Maryse wouldn't have wanted to be a zombie, and her children and husband couldn't bear the thought of their mother and wife shambling around, and possibly killing them. When his Father had shot himself in the mouth, and the zombies around him had immediately started feasting on his blown-out brains (Jace knew he shouldn't have looked around but he couldn't help it, couldn't help praying that his father- his hero- would have killed them all and could re-join his children so they weren't so _alone_ ) Jace knew it was because his father couldn't imagine being a zombie and hurting others.

And now, as he knelt before Simon, seeing the boy's skin around his neck slowly turn grey-green and his veins turn black under his skin, he didn't know what to do.

"I'll do it." Alec said firmly, giving Jace a push. "Go and find Izzy and Clary."

Alec was the older sibling, the one meant to protect his younger siblings no matter what. He had promised his mother and father that before they had both died, when this whole zombie infestation was just a rumour. He picked up his blade again and watched as Jace stumbled back outside.

He turned back to Simon and closed the boy's eyes, taking his glasses off and wiping them on his shirt and put them in his pocket for Clary.

"I'll look after her for you." He told the cold body, adding another person to his protection list. "I'll make sure she makes it."

He was putting this off because they were friends, or allies in this. Even as he raised his blade he hesitated.

Simon made the choice for him however, his eyes opening again with the bloodshot expression of a zombie and his hand clutched at Alec's forearm.

Panicked, Alec stabbed Simon through the heart, and the zombie's hand fell limply off his arm. Alec slowly calmed himself down, rubbing hard at the spot where Simon had grabbed him to get rid of the slimy feeling. He stood and, awkwardly, made the sign of the cross, before remembering Simon mentioning he was Jewish.

"She'll be okay." He promised the empty room and the empty corpse and left, wiping his blade on the upholstery of an overturned armchair.

Clary knew when Jace left the apartment block building, a stumble in his normally confident step, that Simon was dead. She let out a scream and ran a few steps forward before Jace grabbed her, shushing her.

"You don't want to go in there, believe me. I'm sorry, he was too far gone." He tried to tell her as she cried on his chest. Izzy shouldered the two packs and looked for Alec.

"He's just coming. Sorting out some… stuff." He told her as he stroked Clary's hair as some way of comfort.

Soon, Alec appeared, a new darkness to his eyes as he joined the group. He held out the broken pair of glasses to Clary and she sobbed again, taking them and clipping them to the front of her top.

"He said he loved you." He said softly, and Clary nodded, like she had already known and wiped her eyes as she turned back to the skyscraper.

"We should get going." Izzy said gently, and Clary took a deep breath and turned to follow the small group, wishing Simon could be at her side.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yikes everyone, I haven't even thought about this story for a while because my GCSEs started, but I'm determined to finish this by the end of the summer (Only perk of GCSEs, I'm on summer holidays from now to September :^) ) Because I haven't even opened Fanfiction, I didn't even realise this chapter was corrupted, I don't even know how it's happening? If it happens for the next few chapters, check the AO3 story under the same name, because I update both stories as soon as I have a chapter.**

 **Thanks for sticking around and have a great day everyone!**

"Where are we going?" Clary asked, when they stopped for the third time, under the guise of Alec needing to check a map. The three were used to long walks, but Clary obviously wasn't, especially not after living relatively comfortable in a skyscraper with bean bags.

Alec pointed to a spot on the map. "There's supposed to be a survivor settlement up here, we usually send everyone else we find towards there. We'll get you as close as possible, at least until the zombies thin out at the city limits." Clary stood up to peer at the map, her finger tracing the roads and the ultimate patch of green.

"I know where that is." She said finally, sure of where it was. "It's my step-father's farm." she didn't know if Luke had actually made it through the city to his farm, but she hoped he was up there and not just his sister or neighbours.

Alec blinked in surprise and even Jace seemed rather shocked. "We'll send you up there then. It's safer up there and you must want to see your step-father." Alec said decisively, folding the map.

Clary had to admit she did want to see Luke and maybe even her mother but she held her hand out to stop Alec folding the map. "Why can't I stay with you guys? I'm not a burden, I know some of Simon's tech stuff so I won't just be useless."

"It's not about you being a burden. Its about you being safe." Izzy interrupted. "You know what the zombies can do, and we just want as many people here alive as possible."

"But I can help." Clary argued back and Jace sighed. He thought one headstrong girl in their group was enough but now there were two.

"We can talk about later, when we're not in the middle of the street." Jace tried to defuse the situation, logically.

Izzy and Alec nodded in agreement but Alec was looking elsewhere, stepping away to investigate something. He knelt to pick something off the ground.

"What is it?" Jace asked, joining his best friend's side and Alec pointed to an alley.

"There's an empty lighter, and footprints." He said slowly, following the prints in the ash to a door tucked down the alleyway. "The knob's clean, like it's used a lot." He added, like he was Sherlock Holmes or something.

"It's locked." Jace watched, Izzy and Clary drifting over to see as Alec kicked over some broken bricks by the doorframe and finding a small key that clicked perfectly in the lock.

Jace let out an impressed whistle. "Nice one Alec." He ruffled his friend's hair and, finding a lighter in his pocket to serve as a torch, entered the door.

Behind him, Alec huffed, as he'd obviously wanted to go first but let him go. Let Jace be the first to die when some zombie lunged out at him. Alec thought about that scenario for a moment and grabbed Jace's shoulder. "Listen for any zombies, be careful." He warned him and Alec could _hear_ Jace roll his eyes.

"Please Alec, Careful is my middle name." Jace bragged.

"It's actually Christopher." Alec whispered loudly to Clary, just to annoy Jace.

"Okay, I'm always carefu-" the rest of that sentence was cut off in a high-pitched scream as Jace took a step and almost fell down a flight of stairs, that led presumably into a basement.

Alec's hand, still holding onto the strap of his backpack, was the only thing that stopped Jace plummeting and with an annoyed sigh, Alec hauled Jace back up the few stairs he'd fallen and then back out of the door. He took the lighter off him and then entered the door again, himself first, and led the way down the stone stairs.

Behind him he heard Clary snort and mutter, "Smooth." To Jace, and the embarrassment in Jace's long-winded excuse of a reply that Alec didn't care to listen to.

Alec tried to get the others to wait at the top of the stairs for him, just in case there was zombies or particularly unfriendly survivors, but they had all clattered down after him anyway.

Alec walked around the perimeter of the room with his pitiful lighter held high, before finding a lantern and lighting it. The basement they entered showed signs of life, but was disappointingly empty.

There were old gas canisters scattered on the floor, as well as wrappers and a few water canteens. Jace kicked a few blunt blades, and looked up at the others.

"Found anything else?" he asked, his voice loud in the silent room. Clary shrugged and Alec seemed rather disappointed that his great detective find hadn't really helped.

"They might come back." Izzy said, sinking down on a mattress and purposely didn't think about what could be on it. "We should wait. Stay here for the night instead of in the tents or searching for another place."

The others agreed, Clary relievedly. She wouldn't have complained, but her legs were aching and she sat down next to Izzy tiredly. Jace realised that somehow, when he wasn't looking, the two had become pretty close. He put it down to girl's freaky telepathic thing. Or the fact they didn't have much else chance for friends in the apocalypse.

Alec managed to work a heater in the middle of the room, and they huddled around it, sharing jokes, a packet of beef jerky and a few cans of beans. Clary faltered a few times as she told the others stories, tripping over Simon's name and each time the others didn't press her, nodding and letting her gather herself.

As darkness fell, the girls were getting sleepier and sleepier, facing Alec over the heater, while Jace lay on his back and tried to sharpen the knives he had found in the cellar. They were happy, as happy as they could be in the broken wasteland of their city, and they were together. What could go wrong when they had that?


	5. Chapter 5

The first time Alec saw Magnus, he didn't really see him.

He didn't hear him either, creeping down the stairs to the cellar, and he didn't even realise he was behind him until suddenly there was a knife to his throat. He gasped, and the look of raw horror on Izzy's face made him want to close his eyes.

"You have ten seconds to drop your weapons, or I kill him."

Jace dropped his knives with a clatter and sprang up, placing himself between Izzy and Clary to protect them. Alec felt the sharp blade against his neck press tighter and stared helplessly at Jace with wide eyes, unable to move his head or even reach his knife which was just by his knee.

All Jace could see was a pair of shining amber eyes just beyond the light of the lantern and he mentally cursed himself for not listening for who must be the owner of the cellar's return. The knife at Alec's throat looked sharp and the hands holding him were of a man's, with dirty fingers and… chipped purple nail polish?

"Hey, hey we don't want any trouble. We don't want to hurt you, just let Alec go." Jace said as calmly as he could. Behind him, he heard a caught breath and a stifled sob. He had to try and seem like he could control the situation and get Alec and the girls out of here.

"Alec, hmm?" the man said turning Alec's head to look at his face properly.

Alec saw something unrecognizable flash over the man's eyes as he looked at him and clenched his eyes shut. "Don't hurt them." he said as clearly as he could with a knife to his throat. He knew the man could feel his fast pulse against his hand and swallowed hard, feeling the knife press even closer to his skin.

The man looked back to Jace and the girls, nodding at the gun by Izzy's foot. "Kick it over there." He instructed and Izzy did it immediately, not wanting her brother hurt.

"Any other weapons?" he asked and Jace lifted his shirt, removing the whole sheath he had for his blades and throwing it into another corner of the bunker.

The man leaned over Alec to reach for the knife at his knee. All Alec could see of him was rather greasy hair dangling over his face. The knife dug in almost enough to draw blood when the man leaned over in an awkward position and he couldn't stop another gasp of pain. The man sent him a sharp look with bright amber eyes and didn't loosen his grip until he was upright and had Alec' knife secure.

The man stared at Jace for a few agonising long seconds, before he let go of Alec and pushed him away.

Alec pushed himself away from the man as soon as he could, butt-scooching along the floor until he hit Jace's legs. He was still terrified, and he felt his neck, but didn't feel any broken skin. Jace's hand rested on his head, and Alec knew Jace had been just as scared as him.

The man sat down, where Alec had been sitting and picked the key to the cellar door up and placed it in his pocket. Now he sat in the light from the lantern, they could all get a proper look at him.

He had slanted amber eyes-almost catlike- lined with smudged eyeliner and dark shadows underneath. He looked young but tired, and almost swamped in a big velvet trenchcoat. He looked like he had raided a charity shop, with corduroy trousers and some cheetah print top. A rather acquired fashion taste.

"Who are you?" Jace demanded, his hand itching for a knife. The man reached lazily for the cans they hadn't yet disposed of, and wrinkled his nose at the contents, instead taking the last few strips of beef jerky.

He chewed, watching the teenagers. "My name's Magnus Bane." He said, and Izzy scoffed, her fear being replaced with anger and sarcasm.

"Your real name?" she commanded, rising from the mattress and the man shrugged lazily again. He didn't seem bothered as they loomed over him, but was also flipping a knife between his fingers like a pen, and was surrounded by their weapons.

"It's the only name you're going to get." He told her and Alec finally stood up, feeling his legs were solid enough to support him, and towered over the man.

"Was holding a knife to my throat really necessary?" he asked and Magnus gave a bit of an apologetic smile.

"Yes. I didn't want to be killed by looters. I didn't realise you were just kids." He paused for a moment. "Unless you are looters too? You did break in." He trailed off, seemingly in his own world.

"We didn't break in, you left the key out. We're not looters, we just needed a place to stay and we wondered if anyone still lived here." Jace explained, feeling a lot more secure with his siblings by his side, even if they weren't armed.

"Are you guys looking to spend the night?" Magnus asked, putting the knife down and looking at the four of them openly. "I hope you understand that while we got off on the wrong foot, in the Apocalypse you can't be too careful."

Alec could still feel the man's hands gripping his chin and the knife as it dug against his skin, yet he understood the man's fear of new people in this new world.

He could see Jace and Izzy exchanging looks over him as they decided whether to stay or leave.

"Whatever. You're welcome to stay, especially you. I won't hurt you, if you don't hurt me. And if you share some food." Magnus sounded bored, but looked at Alec with emphasis on 'especially you' Alec decided the lantern and its flickering light that made the man look like he had winked just then.

Alec turned away from the man, unsure of what was really going on, and Jace sighed, having lost the battle with Izzy.

"We'll stay, but if you try to hurt Alec, or any of us again, I can't say that you will be unharmed." Jace told Magnus, who again, shrugged.

"It'll be nice to have the company." His voice was genuine and Jace's mouth tightened, gave Izzy an 'are you happy now?' look before picking his knives up again and flounced off into the corner again to sharpen them.

XXX

Later, Alec fished a can of soup out of his bag and Magnus produced a small gas cooker to warm it up on.

"I am sorry for earlier." Magnus said, as he set the cooker up. Alec glanced at him rather surprised.

"For what?" he asked, pushing his luck knowingly. Magnus gave him an amused sidelong glance but continued.

"For holding a knife to your neck. I thought you would attack me if I had just walked in, and I'm trying not to die out here." Magnus explained and Alec nodded, his gaze softening. It dawned on Alec that this really was just everyone trying to look after themselves. Magnus genuinely was a nice guy, but this new world pushed everyone to their limits.

"It's okay. We would've done the same. We held Clary over there at gunpoint for ten minutes when we first met her." Alec chuckled drily, and Magnus echoed the sound, his eyes fixed on the can of soup that was beginning to steam.

"So how long have you all been together?" Magnus asked, his soup can placed in front of his crossed legs as he blew on a spoonful of the hot liquid.

Izzy and Clary had claimed the mattress, Clary already fast asleep but Izzy was laying there, watching Alec and Magnus sleepily and occasionally joining in with their conversation. Jace had shuffled closer to Alec, their knees touching and Jace drooping against Alec's shoulder.

"Well me and Izzy are siblings, and my parents adopted Jace when we were all pretty young. So we all grew up together. We really only found Clary today. She had someone with her, but he died before we could stop the hordes." Alec explained, his voice low for Clary's sake.

Magnus looked between him and Jace with a guarded but interested look. "Siblings?" he asked and Alec nodded, unsure of what Magnus was getting at. Magnus nodded, obviously bored of waiting for his soup to cool and he brought the spoon closer to his lips to sip from.

"It's still hot." Alec warned automatically, just as Magnus burned his tongue and winced, almost spitting the soup out.

Jace laughed against Alec's shoulder, or maybe it was just a soft snore.

Magnus gave Alec a wry smile, licking his lips slightly. "I know that now." He protested childishly, rubbing his lip and glaring at the soup, and Alec laughed.

Magnus looked back up at Alec, his eyes rather suggestive. "Kiss it better for me?" he asked, and Jace immediately sat up straight, elbowing Alec painfully in the side.

"I think we better get some sleep. We want to be out early tomorrow." He said firmly, looking back at Izzy on the mattress. "I can sleep on the floor if Alec can squeeze on there with you two?"

Alec's protests that actually, he could handle sleeping on the floor was lost in the racket of Jace getting up, turning off the stove and kicking part of a broken wooden crate under the door, and then the empty cans at the top of the stairs as a rudimentary alarm system. Alec shrugged at Magnus, who looked rather amused at Jace's actions, and stood up.

Magnus followed, sipping cautiously from his soup again. He picked up a pile of blankets from a corner and handed some to Jace. "I assume I've been thrown out of my own bed?" he asked, already resigned to making a small nest in the furthest corner of the room.

Jace looked at the blankets for a moment before handing them back. "I have a sleeping bag. Give them to Alec and the girls. There's another sleeping bag if you want one?" Jace may not fully trust this newcomer but he wasn't going to take over his bunker and take all his blankets.

Magnus gave Jace a nod of thanks, rather unsure of how to read the strange boy. Maybe his social skills had worsened since he had been reduced to skulking around his city's streets, or this little ragtag group were just plain weird.

He had a feeling it was the latter.


	6. Chapter 6

**This is a long time time but here have a new chapter.**

 **A-Levels are already kicking my ass, but the next chapter should be up a little quicker than last time because I already have a good chunk of it written out.**

 **Soemthing veryyy good happens next chapter but then it's all downhill from there. And I mean VERY downhill.**

 **So like, you were warned.**

 **Have a great day!**

Magnus woke up to the sound of rustling and shuffling around him, and he sat up immediately, reaching for the bat next to him. In his groggy half-asleep state, he wondered how zombies got into his cellar with the security measures he had set up.

He was on his feet in seconds and was in the middle of swinging his bat at the nearest zombie until he realised that the red-headed girl in front of him was not, in fact, a zombie.

He looked around the room, remembering what had happened last night- from realising that the door to his homely cellar was unlocked, to holding possibly the most attractive guy he had ever seen at knifepoint to somehow allowing some possible looters to stay in his house. If he was being real with himself, he had thought last night was a dream, or some lonely hallucination. He blinked the last of the sleep from his eyes and lowered the bat, smiling sheepishly.

"What the hell?" Izzy snapped, making her way across the room to belatedly shield Clary.

"I woke up to shuffling while we're in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse. Excuse me for not wanting to die." As he spoke he realised that not only was Clary and Issy up, Jace and Alec were awake Alec had a backpack slung across his back and Jace was rolling up a sleeping-bag to tie onto another backpack.

Clary gave him a mildly terrified look. "It's fine, it happens." She shrugged.

"If he's up, we can get the sleeping bag back." Jace muttered. Oh, at least they were going to leave him a sleeping bag.

"Were you going to leave without me?" Magnus asked in an affronted voice. He was under no qualms that he was not friends with the group but surely survivors stuck together? He'd spent a night with the group and he'd already gotten used to being around people again. He couldn't deny that Alec was partially why he wanted to stay with them, despite the… attitudes of some others in the group, but he wasn't so shallow that that was the only reason.

"We're not sticking around here, we're heading upstate." Jace told him. Alec was silent, staring at his shoes.

Magnus spread his hands with a smile. "That just so happens to be where I'm heading." As of a minute ago at least.

Jace narrowed his eyes. "Izzy, Clary come here." Magnus kicked away the sleeping bag from his feet, awkwardly fiddling with his bat while the four friends had an honest-to-god team huddle on the other side of the cellar. The cellar wasn't quite big enough for a secret conversation.

"He's good at holding a knife to people's throats." Clary didn't exactly whisper, and Magnus tried not to wince. He wanted to argue that he could do so much more than just hold people at knifepoint.

"We're here to help people. That's what Mom and Dad wanted." Alec added, and Magnus saw Jace's face twist.

"How can we trust him?" He muttered and shot a look at Magnus across the room. Magnus looked up at the ceiling, suddenly whistling idly.

He heard a rustle of clothes and looked back to see Izzy showing off the gun tucked in her waistband. Oh. That message was received loud and clear.

"We don't leave him alone." Magnus didn't hear the rest of Jace's words as the group suddenly learnt how to whisper.

A few moments later the team huddle broke up just as Jace tried at a group fist bump.

Alec turned to Magnus and he was sure he wasn't imagining the pleased look on the other man's face.

"Good news, you can stay."

XXX

It wasn't too long until Magnus had collected his belongings into a backpack and joined the others at the top of the stairs to his cellar. He locked the door and placed the key carefully under the pile of broken bricks.

Clary watched him while the others consulted a map and a compass and scouted for zombies.

"Why are you leaving the key out?" She asked, leaning against the wall.

Magnus glanced up at her, standing straight again and hefted his baseball over his shoulder. "It's not my cellar. Plus, there's someone who might come by, and I can't lock him out. He'll hate me." He kicked a few more rocks over to the pile. "Plus, I don't have any need for a key to a Brooklyn cellar when we're upstate."

Clary was watching Jace as he made sure all his knives were strapped safely away. When she saw Magnus eyeing her, she quickly looked elsewhere.

"Who might come by?" she asked, scuffing her already dirty trainer against the pavement.

"Honestly? No one. But I had a friend when this whole fiasco started, and he left after a while to find more survivors. He might be dead but he's pretty tough, I don't think he can actually die."

Clary looked far too interested in his Tragic Backstory, so Magnus tried to cut himself off before he revealed too much.

"Anyway, where are we heading? Apart from upstate." Maybe he should've been surer of this before he agreed to tag along with this group, but he didn't want to be left alone in the dead city again.

Clary sent him a smirk, like she knew he'd had no idea of what he was getting himself into when he declared to follow them. "There are rumours of a survivor's group out of state. We're going to check it out at least. I think some people I knew are safe up there."

Magnus nodded, about to add something but Jace's call cut him off.

"We should get moving." His low voice carried over the silent street and Clary and Magnus quickly made their way over the siblings.

"It should take us a few days, at least to get close enough to drop Clary off." Jace continued and seemed to be expecting the outraged look Clary immediately shot him with.

"I'm not staying with the survivors, I want to be sure my stepfather is okay and then help you guys." She protested fiercely. Magnus had to respect Jace, if Clary turned that glare on him he would probably crumble and allow her to do whatever she wanted.

"Clary, it's safer for you up there- "

"If you leave me there I'll make my way back here to find you."

Jace winced and Magnus knew he was genuinely trying to help Clary. "If you do that, you'll die. You'll help more with the other survivors. You can't fight, you're only in danger out here."

Clary seemed like she was about to stamp her foot in anger as she was momentarily speechless. Izzy stepped in, an apologetic looks on her face.

"I think we should discuss this as we walk. There has to be a way that we can ensure everyone is safe and happy."

Jace turned on his heel and started walking, with Clary following him quickly. Izzy gave a helpless look at Magnus and Alec and darted after them, trying to get them to keep their voices down and compromise.

Magnus shrugged at Alec and began to tail after the others, looking down side-streets and behind them often in case of zombies. They walked in silence for a while until Magnus tried to break the ice.

"You know what I miss?" He asked aloud, glancing down at Alec for his response.

"A good shower? A feeling of safety? A proper bed to sleep on?" Alec speculated.

Magnus blinked for a moment. "Those are all good points actually. Now what I was going to say sounds silly."

Alec gave a small snort that had Magnus' heart melting. "No, go on, what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say take-out food. It's been so long since I had some good food, y'know?"

Alec tilted his head back as he laughed, and Magnus almost tripped over some rubble in the street because he was too busy staring, transfixed, at Alec.

Oh dear.

Magnus had a sinking feeling that his complete isolation from everyone except rotting corpses had severely messed with his ability to not fall in love with everyone he saw. Sure, he had never been great at that to begin with, but now? It was especially hard.

"I've been trying to forget about take-out Chinese but, God, I would chop someone's arm off for some spring rolls." Alec was saying, and Magnus quickly tried to hide the fact he had been staring.

"McDonald's nuggets. Chow Mein. Barbequed ribs." Magnus listed on his fingers, feeling his stomach start grumbling. He'd been living off beans and beef jerky and packs of Super Noodle. He had found some oranges when this whole thing began but that was a lost time ago. They were all going to get scurvy at this rate.

Alec groaned- honestly groaned- at the thought of the food.

"That's it, we have to stop at some restaurant and see if they have any food that hasn't spoiled." He declared, and Magnus wholeheartedly agreed.

"Fresh bread. Ham and Pineapple Pizza. A good cheeseburger." Magnus tested Alec just a little, just to see what kind of rise he could get out of him.

Alec was nodding until he processed the words. "Magnus, we're just going to have to leave you here if you like ham and pineapple pizza." His laughter kind of took away the threat in his voice.

"Tell me you wouldn't eat ham and pineapple pizza if there was some here now."

Alec screwed his face up for a moment and then his shoulders sagged. "If the world wasn't ending I wouldn't." He allowed, and Magnus snickered at the resignation on Alec's face.

Jace circled around to walk in line with Magnus and Alec while Clary and Izzy walked ahead, still whispering to each other conspiringly.

He looked annoyed and Magnus watched as Alec nudged Jace gently and gave him a soft smile. Magnus had been proud of the few laughs he had pulled out of Alec but suddenly he ached for Alec to smile at him like that.

Oh god, he was in so deep so quickly. He would be lucky if he didn't throw himself at Alec the next time the man even looked at him. He was so easy he was falling for the first non-corpse he saw.

"What happened?" Alec was asking, and Magnus turned his head away, feeling like this wasn't quite his conversation.

"We'll walk the whole way up and then come back. We can see how good the camp is and if we can even try sending more survivors up. We can see if we can learn more about other survivor camps too." Jace explained but the tone of his voice made it clear that he didn't agree with the plan.

Magnus was also staying out because he didn't want to be told that he had to stay at the camp too. Alec and Jace may see him as a hindrance but he had to stay in the city for Raphael. He had no way of knowing if the other boy had made it through the city, but Magnus had taught him all he knew (which arguably, wasn't a lot) and he knew Raphael wouldn't give up so easily even at the hands of some zombies.

It was worth checking the camp too, in case he had appeared there, but Magnus knew deep down he was clutching at straws.

Jace kicked a stone with more force than necessary and it bounced off Izzy's heel. Izzy turned around to glare at him, and Jace stuck his tongue out back at her.

Magnus gave a quiet laugh, glancing at Alec without even meaning to. He was smiling softly at his siblings, his eyes impossibly gentle and Magnus felt his heart skip a beat.

Alec glanced at him a second later and gave him an exasperated smile- not quite as open as the one he gave Jace and Izzy but _close_ \- and rolled his eyes in a long-suffering kind of way.

Izzy stuck her tongue out at Jace who thumbed his nose at her, and this went on until Izzy tripped on an uneven paving slab. Jace's laughter was loud on the silent city and Alec elbowed him to shut him up.

Izzy turned around, an annoyed look on her face and leaned in closer to Clary as they continued their previous conversation.

Jace, Alec and Magnus walked on in silence, with only Jace's long, heavy sighs to interrupt it. After a few minutes of this, Alec grabbed Magnus' arm and pulled him backwards.

"We need to bring up the rear." He excused himself to Jace who rolled his eyes and sighed again- heavier.

Magnus let himself be pulled back until Jace was out of ear-shot and gave Alec a questioning look. To his credit, Alec was checking behind them and then the map of the city to ensure they were heading the right way before looking back at a rather bemused Magnus.

"We'll let Jace stew by himself for a little bit." Alec explained finally, and Magnus chuckled, his eyes watching Jace's hunched shoulders as he kicked every obstacle in his path and even some out of his way.

"He's just worried." Magnus said, shrugging and Alec nodded.

"He'll get over himself, but I don't think this is going to be the end of the argument." Alec told him.

Magnus didn't have much to say to that, so he just nodded.

XXX

They walked further than Magnus had expected, and Clary was beginning to drag her feet. Magnus wouldn't say his life these past few months had been comfortable, but it hadn't been the strain of walking miles each day.

Alec hardly seemed tired as they paused, and Magnus watched as he downed water from a canteen, his Adam's Apple bobbing as he swallowed. Clary flopped down on the pavement and Magnus followed, stretching his cramping feet.

They were in a part of the city that Magnus had never seen before, and his legs were wobbly.

He could see the looks Jace and Alec were giving each other as they looked down at him and Clary sitting on the curb.

"It's going to take a while to get there." Jace said finally and Magnus knew the two of them were slowing the whole group down. Clary nodded, staring determinedly at the pavement in front of her like she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Izzy walked towards them, from where she'd been scoping out the buildings around them for zombies or supplies.

"We have a few hours of day light left. We can stop when it's too dark to keep going."

Magnus stood up, brushing down his coat and giving the others a weak smile.

"I guess we keep going." He said, hearing the emptiness in his own voice and Clary struggled to her feet next to him. Jace had that pained look on his face again and Clary levelled him with a look.

"Let's keep going." She said firmly, turning her back on him and started walking and Magnus felt like he was missing something between them.

Magnus watched as the cityscape slowly disappeared, and the light slowly faded. He could hear the howls of zombies in the distance, and how the other's steps quickened to find a good place to stay before night fell.

They found refuge in the backroom of a shop, with a heavy door that could be bolted. He was exhausted as he lay down in the thin sleeping bag. Clary was already asleep and Jace and Izzy were talking quietly in the corner. Alec had his back to the door, to be alerted if anyone or anything tried to open it and as Magnus slowly fell asleep, he wondered if there was any real point in trying so hard only to eventually die at the hands of zombies.

Alec yawned – a kittenish sound from across the room—and the others chorused with a quiet murmur of 'good night' and a rustling as everyone settled down. Magnus didn't have much to live for, almost everything had been taken from him long before this whole apocalypse, but when he thought of Clary, far too young to be thrust into this survival competition and Jace and Izzy who were trying just to help everyone and… and Alec, who was trying his best to just get everyone through this, Magnus speculated if maybe he could find a new life in the city of the dead.


	7. Chapter 7

After hours of walking and Alec having almost worn completely through the soles of his shoes, they were barely a day away from the farm.

Jace had been getting quieter and quieter the closer they got and there was a set to his jaw that Alec didn't want to identify. His eyes never stayed still either, yet always seemed to come back to rest on Clary. Something was bothering his brother but Alec wasn't sure if he could help him

Jace was the one who saw the sign first, advertising a mall that had just opened up nearby. After about 10 minutes of him convincing the group, they had all agreed to go and check it out, even if Alec was a little hesitant. He tried reasoning with the others that there could be more zombies there or there may not even be supplies there, eventually he relented and they started in the direction of the mall. He and his siblings could fight and Magnus had survived long enough alone to learn _some_ kind of fighting.

Alec still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen but was slowly distracted by Izzy and Magnus arguing light-heartedly and even joined in as they drew closer.

After an hour or so, they had arrived at the mall, a massive glass and brick structure surrounded by other buildings. Alec pried the door open, noticing how the automatic slides were already wedged open just a few inches.

They made their slow way around the mall, ducking into shops and filling their packs with whatever supplies they could find. Alec slipped a new pair of shoes on and tied his old ones to his straps. They might still be useful. Izzy found a basket of big fluffy blankets and stuffed one in with her sleeping bag. Jace threw a handful of strawberry-scented hand sanitizers and a few pairs of socks. Basic hygiene wasn't hard.

"Alec!" Magnus hissed, and Alec looked up, his anxiety suddenly back in full force at the intensity of Magnus' tone. The man was on the other side of the shop, holding up a… a pair of booty shorts with 'Baby' across the back.

"Should I get them?" he asked, in the same whisper-shout and Alec laughed as loudly as he dared. Magnus looked so serious across the room that he just couldn't help it.

"Yes, they'll look great on you." He said, joking, until he realised what he had just said. Oh dear.

Magnus' expression lifted to something rather smug. "You think?" he said, but threw them aside, knowing they would be useless in their exodus across the country.

By the time they got to the other side of the first floor and regrouped, Alec's feeling of anxiety had faded.

"Maybe we could stay here tonight." Jace suggested and there was a tone of something in his voice that Alec couldn't quite place, although the others didn't seem to have noticed.

"We could." Izzy agreed, turning to look up at the second floor. "We seem to have been lucky with the zombies this time around."

In a way that would have been comical if it had been in almost any other context, there was a distant clatter of broken glass.

The group went silent and Alec felt Magnus' hand heavy on his back.

From the entrance to the shopping mall, there was a roar of hungry Zombies and a stampeding of feet.

Alec felt his stomach drop out. They could've been following them for miles, having caught their scent back before they saw the sign. The Zombies could've caught up with them while they were in the middle of the open streets and they would've been truly and utterly fucked if they had.

"I haven't seen a crowd like that here since the January Sales." Jace said, his eyes wide, not quite comprehending the sudden rush of zombies before them. Luckily he had Clary who was quick enough to grab Jace by the hand and tug him off.

"Run!" she yelled and the group snapped into action at the sound of her voice and scattered in different directions. Even as he ran, Alec was twisting his head to try and see his siblings: Jace had Clary and he had Magnus by his side but Izzy was jumping up the escalators alone.

"Alec!" Magnus yelled, his hand fisted tight in Alec's hoodie as he tried to pull the smaller boy along.

"The others, Izzy-!"

"They'll be fine. You're no use to them dead." Magnus yelled, breathless already as they took a different flight of stairs two at a time. It was the panic in Magnus' wide amber eyes that made Alec finally focus on running. He led the two of them to a shop that was hopefully further than the Zombies could be bothered to chase them too, and took shelter under the services desk.

Magnus was panting heavily next to him, his shoulder, hip, leg pressed against Alec's body.

"That was close." He said, his head lolling on Alec's shoulder in weariness.

Alec nodded, his breathing slowing. "Sorry for freezing up there." He told Magnus, wincing down at his hands instead of looking at Magnus.

"It's okay, you were worried about Jace and Izzy. They'll be fine without you, they can handle themselves." Magnus replied, his voice gentle in a way that made Alec slightly apprehensive.

"There were just so many." He muttered, wanting to get up and find his siblings but Magnus' solid presence next to him stopped him. He settled for poking his head up cautiously from the desk. He couldn't hear or see anything out of the door and he sat down against Magnus again with a deep breath.

"That was too close. Do you reckon the others are okay?" he asked, and Magnus nodded.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Magnus told him, a faint smile on his face. "You're all so close, it must be nice to have people who actually worry about you."

Magnus hadn't meant to sound so attention-seeking and pitiful but it had ended up coming out like that anyway.

Alec looked at him with his wide blue eyes and smiled softly and Magnus couldn't tell if he was being pitied or not.

"You have people who care about you too." He said earnestly and Magnus had to look away from his open face.

"I didn't have much before the zombies. I was raised in fostercare, aged out of it and managed to get a job in information brokering." He shrugged. Alec laid a hand on his leg and he looked at the other man in surprise. Alec looked pretty surprised at himself for being so direct as well.

"You have us now. Izzy, Jace, Clary and me, we'll look out for you. We worry about you." Alec leaned in, his heart racing. This was the end of the world, what more did he have to lose? To be anxious about?

"I care about you Magnus."

Magnus wasn't quite sure if this was happening or if he had been injured on their escape and was now hallucinating as the last of his oxygen made its way through his body.

"I care about you too Alec." He said, his voice as platonic as he could make it. He was just misinterpreting Alec's words.

Alec rolled his eyes and huffed and Magnus still found it the cutest thing.

"No Magnus. I _care_ about you."

Before Magnus could say anything else like 'No homo?' or 'Could you be more specific?' Alec leaned in and kissed him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Just a quick update to keep you all going! Got a new computer and the keys make nice clicky noises so who knows I might write more soon.**

 **The next chapter is actually mostly written out so I'm going to tidy that up now and post it either tonight or tomorrow so look forward to that!**

 **And one last warning, this really is the last happy chapter of this fic, next chapter is going to have a lotttt of angst! : )**

 **Have a great day!**

 **Fez.**

Magnus had to admit it wasn't the best kiss ever, technique-wise. They were sitting on the floor of some teenage-girl clothes shop, hiding from zombies and separated from their group. Alec wasn't the best at kissing, but Magnus had had more than enough experience to tone down the messiness of the kiss, until Alec got the hang of it.

Magnus couldn't believe that Alec actually liked him and didn't just endure his flirting or hang around out of pity. He also hadn't believed in zombies until a few months ago, so maybe he should've opened his mind a bit more.

He leaned back for a breath of air, and Alec followed his lips blindly for a moment needily before opening his eyes.

He looked beautiful, even caked in mud and blood. His cheeks were flushed, and his lips were swollen, and Magus leaned in for another kiss, reaching over to grab at Alec's waist to pull him closer. If this was just some adrenaline-fuelled one-time thing Magnus wanted to make the most of it.

Alec sighed softly against his lips, and Magnus all but melted into him. Alec tasted sweet even though he probably hadn't washed his teeth in at least a week. Magnus knew he was breaking out across his forehead after too long without a skincare routine and he'd never washed the eyeliner he'd been wearing all those weeks ago off, so he had a permanent smoky eye to match the dark bags under his eyes from long sleepless nights yet the bright adoration in Alec's eyes made him forget the grease in his hair.

He could feel Alec's ribs under his shirt, but also the tight corded muscle and he longed to see Alec shirtless. Or even naked.

But this wasn't the place for anything like that and with this realisation he tore his mouth away from Alec's with some difficulty.

Alec's pupils were blown wide and he was panting slightly, and Magnus could feel his heartbeat against his palm, or maybe it was his own.

"What is it?" Alec asked, and Magnus just wanted to gather him up and cover him with kisses and his body.

"We can't do this here." Magnus said, hating himself for cockblocking them.

Alec's eyes cleared a little as he remembered where they were, and he cleared his throat, face flushed out of embarrassment now, and he moved into a crouch.

"Of course, sorry." He said, in an oddly formal way and Magnus reached out to catch his wrist.

"Hey, I would really like- "Magnus stopped himself, swallowing hard. Alec's eyes softened as he looked at him, and he reached out to cradle Magnus' cheek. His hand was calloused from his knives and scars, and every nerve ending Alec touched lit up.

He had it _bad_. But with the look on Alec's face, maybe he had it bad too.

"We can catch up again later." Alec told him, voicing Magnus' own thoughts and leaned in once more to kiss him, before standing smoothly, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

Magnus sat on the floor for just a moment longer, in a daze, unsure if everything had really just happened.

When he pulled himself together, Alec was already by the door of the shop, peering out for any more zombies.

"Ready?" He asked, looking back at Magnus with one last smile.


	9. Chapter 9

Alec turned away to try retracing their steps to the others, making an effort not to look back at Magnus. He knew if he did he would fall into his arms again and they wouldn't find the others for hours.

His hands came up to brush his lips absently, his other hand resting on the handle of his sheathed knife. He wasn't quite sure if that had really just happened.  
He had entertained the thought once or twice as they stumbled across the fallen scape of New York, but he didn't think at any point it would actually happen. He'd always been more preoccupied with keeping everyone together.

Magnus caught up with him, having seemingly collected himself (and that was an image Alec wasn't going to forget any time soon: Magnus sitting on the floor with blown pupils and swollen lips, looking up at Alec in a way he'd never seen before).

Alec reached back in a gesture that was glaringly unsubtle and linked his fingers with Magnus' before he could overthink any more.

Magnus squeezed his hand gently and Alec almost let himself relax. Almost.

As if the very universe was set against him, loud footfalls rang across the floor of the shopping centre and Alec untangled his hand quickly, pulling Magnus behind him as he faced down this new enemy.

"It's Clary." Magnus murmured and stepping out from behind Alec but kept his distance, so they didn't look too conspicuous standing together. Alec stepped away too and raised a hand in greeting to Clary.

As she got closer, Alec knew something was wrong and he started forward. Her cheeks were wet, and her breath was more ragged than it should be.

"What is it?" He asked immediately before she'd even reached him, and Clary fixed him with big wet eyes.

"It's- it's Izzy."


	10. Chapter 10

**This is just a warning for some internalised homophobia in this chapter along with mentions of blood and angst. Alec and Magnus will have a feelings-jam and maybe some making out next chapter, but for the moment we got a lottttt of angst.**

 **And this isn't the Main Angst planned for this story. We're not even close to that yet guys B )**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Fez.**

Whatever her answer would have been, Alec would have started running, knowing only Jace or Izzy—the two main people he cared about—could be hurt but hearing his sister's name made him immediately break into a dead-sprint.

He'd left his little sister behind. The one thing he'd promised his parents he wouldn't do. The monsters were coming for them and what had he done? Run away and made out with a man in a corner.

He didn't even wait for Clary to direct him, he could see a flash of Jace's golden hair peering out from the door to a shop and he fixated on it like a beacon.

Jace saw him and Alec could see how his face crumpled. Something deep inside Alec crumpled too.

"Alec, she- the zombie. Her arm." Alec felt like he was about to be sick. He pushed by Jace, the other boy clinging to the back of his jumper like a lifeline and Alec felt his eyes fill with tears at the sight of Izzy.

"Oh Isabelle." He murmured, close to being a whimper and his younger sister turned her teary eyes up at him. He hadn't called her Isabelle in a long time, not since they were young.

"Hey Alec." She looked far, far too young, swamped in a new leather jacket she had found earlier and holding her hurt arm with her uninjured left arm.

She was the one who first called Alec. As a toddler she'd struggled with his whole 'Alexander' and shortened it to Alec. It had stuck ever since then.

She gestured to her arm, which still had blood pouring out of it and her bottom lip wobbled. Tears were falling from her face and suddenly Alec couldn't move.

He knew what he needed to do: wrap the arm, a tourniquet, hold the arm above her heart, stitch it, put antiseptic on it, they could even amputate to stop the virus spreading and his joke from hours ago, about cutting an arm off for some food left a bitter taste in his mouth but he couldn't move his feet or his arms to pull his bag off his bag.

When the world had ended, Alec never felt like it had really ended. He survived, even as his family dropped around him, and survival seemed natural for a child brought up by ex-military parents, a child who had spent more time in tents, on mountains, in freezing rivers than in an arcade or a cinema.

But now as Izzy wept and her arm flushed with a sickly black— the Zombie infection was setting in—and Jace held onto his shoulders in horror, Alec felt like his world was ending.

"Alec!" Magnus was suddenly by his side. "Give me your bag!" He was tugging Alec's bag from his back and Alec tried to comply numbly. Magnus unzipped the bag quickly and seeing the terror in the shake of his hands Alec finally managed to snap into action.

He knelt alongside Magnus, Jace's hand falling from his back, and tried to peel the sleeve away from Izzy's hand.

"It wasn't even from the horde. I hid in a store and it- it crawled out from under a rack."

Alec grit his teeth as he listened to the hitches in Izzy's voice. She was strong—she'd held the family together when they found Max, and she managed to solider on after Mom and Dad died— but here she was, sobbing as she perched on a stack of crates with a perfect ring of toothmarks stark on her pale arm. The zombie plague was clogging her blood, sticky globs of black mixed in with the flesh and Alec clenched his eyes shut.

He didn't know how he was going to fix this. He wasn't sure if he could… He _would_. He had to, for Izzy.

"Alec," Izzy says gently, and her free hand came up to cradle his cheek. He hadn't even realised he'd been crying but now his tear-stained cheeks matched hers. "Alec, you're going to be okay."

She was trying to reassure him as she bled out. Even if she died before the zombie virus fully set in, it would keep working until her corpse joined the hordes hunting them down.

"You're going to be too." He held her wrist tightly and she just smiled hopelessly at him. Magnus was working away with a wad of gauze to clean the zombie filth away from her wound.

"This is going to hurt." He murmured, and Izzy's hand trembled against his cheek.

Magnus poured antiseptic over the wound, enough to help her but not enough to waste it. Izzy hissed, and a new wave of tears sprung to her eyes.

Alec's hand tightened on her wrist, his own tears soaking her gentle hand.

"I'm sorry Alec. I wasn't careful enough." Her face was deathly pale, and Alec swore that just for a second, he saw black pulsing up her neck—the next symptom of the zombie virus. He blinked hard and tried to believe it was shadows.

Izzy's face twisted. "Alec." She whimpered, and Alec knew it had not been a trick of the light.

"You're going to be okay—" Alec started again, and Izzy's eyes shifted from his to look over his head.

"Clary…" Izzy whispered, and Alec heard a hitched breath and a sniff behind him but didn't bother turning. He watched Magnus clean the wound and then his hands slow. He had used as much antiseptic as he could, but the black veins were spreading. Magnus rocked back on his heels and Alec caught the look on his face.

"Magnus, why are you stopping?" He asked, his head spinning at the amount of blood soaking his little sister's clothes.

"Alec, I'm not sure…" Magnus said feebly, and his lips were still swollen from Alec's kisses and Alec was losing his grip on the whole situation. He reached for the gauze, pressing it with shaking hands over the wound. He couldn't let Izzy die.

"Izzy, please." Clary whimpered, and Alec was so focused on trying to wrap the gauze around Izzy's arm he wasn't paying attention to the hurried words being exchanged over his head.

He only looked up from his knotting of the bandage at the deliberate cocking of a gun and his head snapped around to stare at Clary.

"Clary, what the fuck-'' Jace was saying, and Alec's view of Clary was clouded by his tears.

"Please take care of my boys." Izzy said in a tired, slurred voice and it was almost lost in the deafening shot of the gun going off. Time slowed as the bullet –one of the few they had left—soared over Alec's head like an avenging angel and hit its mark right on target.

Izzy slumped and her hand, still cradling Alec's cheek, fell limp. A spray of blood from her forehead splattered against Alec and he was covered in his little sister's blood and his little sister was _dead._

Jace made some horrible noise that would've torn Alec's heart apart if there was anything left to tear, and Alec turned and launched himself at Clary, knocking her to the ground and the gun to some corner of the room.

"Why? Why the fuck did you kill her?" Alec roared, unheeding of Jace's gasps and Magnus trying to pull him back.

"She wanted it! She told me if she was bitten, she wanted me to kill her because she couldn't become a zombie and she knew you wouldn't hurt her, and she didn't want to hurt you!" Clary was shouting with tears in her eyes and there was blood on her too.

Alec let go of her shirt, numbness spreading through him and Magnus heaved him back as he began to sob. Clary sat up slowly, wiping tears from her eyes and blood from her face and Alec turned his head away from his sister's corpse and into Magnus' chest.

Magnus held him close until Jace coaxed the two of them up, painfully aware that the zombies would come running at the smell of blood and noise.

They stumbled out of the mall, one people missing from their ragtag group and as Alec stared numbly at the endless days and horizon stretching before them without Izzy, he began to think that maybe there was no way out.


	11. Chapter 11

"Alec." His heart sank as he heard his name called, knowing that now they'd stopped he had no excuse to avoid Magnus.

He stared at the fire they managed to set up in a blocked off courtyard and hoped that the walls around them would stop zombies finding them. Jace and Clary had already left to sleep in a safer room a little further away from the fire and Alec needed to stamp out the fire before he followed them.

Not yet though. Not yet when he still felt cold to the bone, but he feared no fire would warm him after the events of the afternoon.

"Alec, we need to talk." Alec made a noncommittal humming noise, knowing exactly what Magnus wanted to talk about. Magnus perched next to him, balanced on the balls of his feet as he crouched, the stance of a man who is rarely settled and safe.

"Are you okay?" Magnus started. Alec was expecting something completely different—an interrogation of what they had done earlier, a rejection or a disgusted comment—and he was so surprised he broke off his staring contest with the flickering flames to look at Magnus blankly.

"What?" He asked eloquently, and Magnus cracked a small sad grin.

"How are you feeling?"

Alec shrugged, carefully keeping his mouth shut. He knows if he isn't careful he'll end up breaking down and he doesn't want that. He has to stay strong for Jace and Clary and Magnus.

Magnus places a hand on his knee and Alec digs his nails into his palms to stop himself from leaning in. Magnus is warm, and his hands are comforting. Alec deliberately shifts his legs away from Magnus and doesn't blink when Magnus gives him a pitying look.

"What happened wasn't your fault." Magnus says quietly, and Alec can't tamp down the anger and sadness that had been in him since the whole incident earlier.

"It shouldn't have happened! I left her alone. I should've gone with her, not hid in a shop with you! I didn't help anyone!" Alec spoke frantically, trying to explain himself to Magnus and partially to himself. He cuts himself off, trying to breath properly through the lump in his throat.

He had promised his parents he would look after Izzy and he had failed.

"Do you regret it Alexander?" Magnus asks, and Alec is suddenly very quiet, looking up at him with teary eyes. Magnus' voice is deep and intense and the glint of his eyes in the firelight is taking Alec's mind back to earlier in the day when Magnus held him safe and tight and close.

He wishes they could go back to that. He wishes he could go back so no one ever got hurt.

Alec stutters as he tries to think of a reply. He had liked being with Magnus, really really liked it. But he had gotten Izzy hurt and now he had to take care of Jace and Clary. He had to get them all safe to the farm.

Magnus huffed a laugh and Alec realised how long he'd taken to answer.

"Of course." Magnus mutters, half to himself, and as he turns his head away from Alec, he swears he can see tears in his eyes.

He pushes himself up and stalks off into the darkness and Alec jumps to his feet.

He can't lose Magnus.

"Magnus!" He speaks too loudly, and it echoes in their courtyard, but Alec can't bring himself to care. Magnus turns his head slightly, but he doesn't look at him.

"Magnus." He says softly, stopping just behind him and reaching for his shoulder. "Magnus, I don't regret it."

He hears a hitch in Magnus' breath, but he doesn't stop. He knows he needs to fix this.

"That was the first good part of this whole mess. I wish it could've been under different circumstances, but I don't regret it."

Magnus turns but his eyes are lowered. Tear tracks down his cheeks catch the dying firelight and Alec reaches up to wipe them away with his thumb.

"I could never regret you."

In a big rush, Magnus is falling into his arms and there are lips on his own, messily and salty tasting. His hands, cupping Magnus' wet cheeks are shaking and he's sure there's tears streaming down his own cheeks.

Magnus holds him close, their chests pressed up against each other and suddenly Alec's not cold anymore.

After an eternity Alec finally pulled away, trying to catch his breath.

Magnus smiles at him, leans in to place another kiss to Alec's forehead.

"You need to get to sleep." He tells him gently and kisses Alec before he can complain.

"I'll take first watch. You sleep. I'll wake Jace for the next watch."

Alec pauses for a moment and gives in. He rests his forehead against Magnus' collarbone, brushing his lips against the only sliver of skin he could get.

"Good night." Magnus tells him, and Alec manages a tired smile. He hadn't realised how exhausted he was before, but now his bones felt weighted down and heavy.

Magnus gave him a little nudge towards the safe room and Alec stepped towards it slowly, not wanting to leave Magnus alone. Not now.

"I'll see you in the morning." Magnus prompts him, and Alec finally goes, giving him a smile.

"See you later, Magnus."

And if Magnus turned around just to hide the wide sappy smile that spread over his face, well, it wasn't like Alec could see him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Right guys, so I did have a plan for this and then I realised parts wouldn't make sense without some prior Clary/Jace and I couldn't force that at the end of last chapter.**

 **SO this is more of a flashback chapter, focused on Clary and Jace! The timeline is also a bit off, because this chapter is memories from several days, while a few chapters ago they picked up Magnus and Clary on the same day. That's my bad writing and lack of planning but I'm not ashamed enough to go back and alter a few words.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

Clary wasn't always great at making friends. She had Simon, o[pr had had Simon and between hanging out with him and sticking up for him, she either scared off the other kids or they had no interest in her.

She didn't blame Simon for that, of course, she was always happy with his company.

But having him constantly by her side meant she hadn't actively made friends for the past eight years. At least.

Luckily for her, Izzy, Jace and Alec were all in need of a friend who wasn't related to them or otherwise family. Alec was the trickiest to talk to, mostly due to his seriousness but when the three of them were all together, he seemed to relax and would tease Jace and Izzy in a fond older-sibling way.

Izzy seemed desperate to talk to someone who wasn't her brothers, even if Clary had no interest in make-up and even less when they were currently living through the plot of Zombieland (she had made that joke once, and turned to her right side to high-five Simon, only to be greeted with Alec's blank look. Izzy had looked similarly confused and even Jace was lost. It wasn't even an obscure pop culture reference like the ones Simon had made about ''Zombie Strippers'' or ''Dead and Breakfast'' or ''Vampire Vs Zombies'' which were possibly the worst zombie movies Clary had ever heard of. She was fairly sure he was making them up, but he went to the effort of securing a Wi-Fi connection to prove they were, in fact, real and serious)

Regardless of their ability to wield an eyelash curler, they got on well. Izzy's jokes made the long walks more bearable. She gave Clary dry shampoo and Clary gave Izzy first dibs on the hot water she boiled after setting up a portable generator of Simon's.

She enjoyed being with the three of them and with Magnus when he tagged along, but she missed Simon still. She had his glasses hooked onto her collar and his D&D statue in her pocket, but she felt his absence from her side acutely.

When they were walking down the ghost streets, they had come across an electronic shop with its front window smashed. Jace had jumped up among the broken glass, a machete at his hip, and kicked through the debris like it was snow. They had all followed, poking around in the remains of the looted store. There was an ancient GameBoy from the sell/exchange corner and she picked it up, and went to hand it to Simon, knowing how he loved his retro games before being painfully reminded that Simon was dead and would never lecture her for hours on why the classic games were the best again. She had slipped the GameBoy—gameless and with no spare available batteries—into a side pocket on her bag without knowing why. Jace, possibly feeling her mood had dropped, possibly just being an idiot, had distracted her later with mocking every single zombie game the store had on its shelves.

She was friends with Jace too but _only_ friends. She didn't like him at all, in a romantic sense and he made it hard for her to like him platonically when he was being an ass.

He was handsome, sure, with his muscles and strong hands and golden hair and high cheekbones, and he was funny, maybe, if she ignored how stupid he could be. But several times when they were walking through the city, he'd made her laugh until she cried which was a welcome change from everything that had happened recently.

He'd been sympathetic when Simon died and again, she had cried several times, on Izzy's shoulder and on his shoulder.

He'd told her in hushed tones during their exodus about how they had ended up in the city fighting the zombies and helping survivors, about how he had come to live with Alec and Izzy and stories of when him, Izzy and Alec were younger: when Alec had fallen into a river and Jace 'heroically' jumped in after him and both of them had had to be pulled out by Robert; when he taught Izzy how to do eyeliner and she taught him how to contour his face and when all three of them had brought a portable karaoke machine to the depths of the countryside woods and Jace swore up and down they saw Sasquatch during the chorus of 'Funkytown'.

She told him about her life before the Apocalypse and her life after it, her step-father's farm in upstate New York and her hopes of finding her mother there. She described Simon and their childhood together and Jace had found a candlestick to burn in vigil in the nights following Simon's death.

She definitely didn't like him though. She didn't have time for some kind of YA romance novel relationship in the middle of the Reckoning. She had to find her mother and Luke and avenge Simon. She had to survive.

Not sneak off and make out with Jace.

Funnily enough, the one thing she swore she wouldn't do happened anyway.

A few nights after picking Magnus up, and a few nights before they were really close to Luke's farm, they had been forced to stop in the middle of a patch of skyscrapers with little shelter from the cold night or zombies. They had set their tents up and arranged a watch schedule so they could be warned of any Zombies.

It was Alec first because Alec had to be in control to be safe. Clary had lay down happily to rest her aching legs and Izzy had kept the tent flaps open to say goodnight to the boys.

"I'll keep you in my dreams, Alexander." Magnus had called from his tent and Izzy had snickered and Clary saw how Alec ducked his head when he thought Magnus couldn't see him.

Jace had made a grumpy noise and reminded Alec to wake him for his and Clary's shift in three hours at least four times before the tents were fastened shut and Clary fell asleep.

Clary felt she was woken entirely too soon when Jace shook her awake for their shift.

"What time is it?" she had hissed, knowing Izzy was asleep next to them. Jace's face had been lit up by moonlight shining through the flap, illuminating his cheekbones and making his hair flare, as if it was a halo.

He looked guilty. "Midnight. I let you sleep a little longer." He explained, and she thumped his arm in indignation and scrambled out of her sleeping bag and the tent to sit next to him in the patch of moonlight between the two tents.

She laced her shoes up while Jace leaned back to tilt his face up to the stars.

"That's one good thing that comes out of this." He whispered to her and she followed his gaze to the North Star. "There's no pollution. We're not cutting down trees or burning fossil fuels. We're not lighting up the sky with our own lamps, maybe the earth can recover from what we've done."

Clary had to admit, he had a point.

"I don't think I've ever seen stars in New York before." She smiled ruefully, and she would've traded all the stars in the sky for the grin Jace flashed her.

"We went right into the countryside once, me Alec and Izzy, when Mom and Dad were sleeping to this massive field. We could see the whole sky, no trees or buildings or pollution. It was just us and the sky and the angels."

Clary had giggled, eyes fixed on him while his eyes were on the sky. "The angels?" She pressed, and he shrugged.

"It's nice to think that there are angels out there. Protecting us."

"Angels in the apocalypse?" Clary couldn't remember if he'd said that he was religious. She believed him though. Staring at him, with his fire-gold hair and wide eyes, she could believe there were angels on earth and in mortals.

Jace had looked at her then, and she dropped her gaze quickly. There was a moment of silence and Jace coughed.

"I guess we should go and scout around for zombies." Jace said finally and Clary nodded, carefully not looking at him as she got up.

They began a circuit of the two nearest blocks of flats, led by Jace's torch and the moonlight.

Clary felt embarrassed for thinking it was romantic—there was nothing romantic about searching for zombies so that you and your friends weren't killed in a grisly fashion—but it really was.

"Clary!" Came an urgent whisper and Clary's heart stopped. Jace had gone on a little further than her and was bent over something at the edge of the concrete path they were on.

'Please don't let it a hand. Or a foot. Human or otherwise' Clary thought as she jogged to catch up to Jace.

He was looking at a flower that had sprouted through the gaps in the concrete. It may have propagated from one of the nearby bushes, further away from the path. It was about knee-height and had bloomed a full yellow head of delicate petals. Jace touched it gently with the pad of his finger and nectar showered off in a little plume.

Clary hadn't seen anything even close to a flower since the beginning of the end of the world. Her mother used to keep massive vases of flowers in every window and table of their apartment.

"It's beautiful." She murmured and Jace nodded. "I think it's a perennial sunflower. They bloom in the fall."

Jace looked impressed. "That's something else good about this whole disaster." He told her, and she dared glance up at him again.

"The flower? The revival of nature against all odds?" she guessed, and he grinned.

He was picked out in gold and silver in the light, and Clary would've fought hundreds of zombies to keep the image of him here, now in her mind forever.

"No, meeting you." He said, and his voice was even quieter than before, so much so she wasn't even sure if she was meant to hear it.

"I'm glad I met you." He continued and stepped closer to Clary who suddenly couldn't quite breathe.

"Me too." She whispered, and he took her by the waist and kissed her.

It was everything she had wanted in a first kiss, and everything she hadn't. Far off there was a howl of a Zombie, but Jace's lips tasted of Chapstick and the dried strawberries that had been shared after their meal. The night air was heavy with moonbeams and the smell of the blooming flower at their hips and Jace was warm as he pressed her to his chest.

Her hands ended up wound in his shaggy hair and even in the depths of the destruction of their world it was smooth and soft. He held her hip but didn't let his hands wander and when he finally pulled away, they were both breathing heavily.

"I've wanted to do that for a while." Jace admitted and a smile—genuine and affectionate—flitted across his face.

Clary still felt like her nerves were short-circuiting and managed a weak ''Me too.''

Jace's smile turned more confident, into the cocky, assured smirk she had hated when she first met him but now it was making her cheeks flush, and before he could say anything more, she rushed up on tiptoes to kiss him again. She had surprised him, and he let a pleased sigh slip though his lips, against her mouth that made her smirk instead.

They kissed for what felt like forever, but eventually pulled away to allow them both to compose themselves again.

"I suppose we should finish the watch." Clary said reluctantly, and Jace laced his fingers with hers, and led her down the path again.

They didn't encounter anything that night and were able to sit a little way from the tents to kiss and be close again. When Clary went to sleep again, having woken Izzy for her turn to watch over their little camp, her lips were still tingling, and she had trouble falling asleep again.

It was the best night she had had since the beginning of the end, and even when she drew close to end, she would not forget the near-heavenly glow of Jace, her golden Jace, with his hands full of her and his eyes full of stars.

"Jace?" Clary asked, her voice struggling above a whisper.

She hadn't spoken since they left the shopping mall, and no one had spoken to her. Alec hadn't even looked at her, and Jace glanced at her twice, to check she was still following them and not about to kill another one of them presumably.

Now they were at a safe house, and Jace was collecting pieces of wood and debris to form a barrier in front of the door later. He was flinging the planks down and Clary could only sit on her sleeping bag and watch him.

He didn't make any sign of hearing her. He threw a brick at the wall, shaking a chunk of plaster down and Clary jumped.

She felt like she should give Jace time to grieve, but none of them could afford that time.

She could still feel the recoil of the gun, far more powerful than she'd ever imagined during the games she played as Simon's Player 2. The gun had been cold and hard, and she had closed her eyes when she fired because she didn't want to see the pity on Izzy's face or the horror on Jace's.

She hadn't wanted to kill Izzy. She hadn't even wanted to agree to Izzy's plan when the other girl had first brought it up during one of their shared nightshifts.

Izzy's eyes had been wide and determined in what tiny light the embers of their fire had thrown up. "I need you to promise me that you'll kill me." She had told her, almost frantically and Clary now wondered if she had known if she would be the next to go.

"Alec won't do it, and Jace would sooner turn the knife on himself. It'll kill them if I'm a zombie and I might even hurt them." Izzy was blinking fast and tears sprung to Clary's own eyes.

"Izzy, I don't know—" Clary had stammered, and Izzy's face had crumpled.

"It's for the best. I can't bear to leave them, but I can't hurt them. I don't think I can fight it." Izzy, who was barely 18 and had already lost so much in the past few months, had stared at the stars in a defeated way and Clary chewed her nails to the quick, thinking hard.

"I'll do it. But if I die first, avenge Simon. Fix this whole mess. If anyone can, it's you three."

Izzy had given her a watery smile and threw herself at her for a hug. Clary had held onto her tightly, eyes fixed on the darkness behind them.

"I don't want to talk to you." Jace said through gritted teeth and Clary could remember what those teeth, that mouth felt like on hers, on her neck.

She had ruined whatever fragile thing they had had, but she knew that what she had done was the best thing. She had seen the virus spreading, and Izzy had felt it too. There was no way to reverse the disease.

"I had to do it Jace." She told him, staring at her hands in her lap.

Jace threw one last hunk of cinderblock at the wall and collapsed on his sleeping bag like a puppet with its strings cut.

Clary stood up from her bag to sit carefully next to him. She wanted to believe the golden boy who had kissed her in the moonlight wouldn't hurt her, but she could see dents in the walls from where he'd thrown bricks and made sure there was space between them.

"I'm sorry Jace." She whispered and Jace buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking.

"She's dead. I should've looked after her." He whispered, and Clary could hardly look at him out of guilt.

"There was nothing you could've done. She was turning into one of them by the time we got to her." Clary told him. Izzy's scream was still echoing in her skull, and Clary could still see the fear in Jace's eyes when he heard it. He had begun to run, leaving Clary behind as he tried to find his sister in the zombie-infested mall. Clary had followed and then run to find Alec and Magnus, fearing that with each step she took, Izzy came closer to killing Jace.

"She's dead Clary." Jace repeated into his hands and Clary placed a hand on his shoulder to try and reassure him.

"She didn't want to hurt anyone. She wanted to die before she got a chance to be a zombie. She- she _asked_ me to do it." Clary's own voice was shaking, and she clenched her fists, determined not to cry.

Jace made a sobbing noise before swallowing hard. He straightened up shakily and Clary leaned in to try and comfort him. It was the least she could do.

"I think—" Jace took a deep breath, his hands tightening in the material of his pants. "I think you should go."

Clary jerked back from him, her eyes searching his downturned face. She had expected anger, but she hadn't thought that perhaps Jace truly, irreversibly hated her. She thought he would've understood why she had done what she had done, he would've helped her.

"Jace, I'm safest here, I swear I can help—"

"Like you helped Izzy? Like you helped Simon? You're putting us all in danger because you can't fight and I can't have anyone else dying." Jace lifted his chin and stared her in the eyes.

Clary's mouth worked like she was trying to say something, but she closed it suddenly as a dark look swept across her thin face. She would not cry. Not for Jace and his golden hair and his cruel heart.

Jace watched as Clary stalked to her sleeping bag and climbed in as aggressively as one can climb into a sleeping bag to look like a large caterpillar. He sneered at her back, but it slipped it off his face, as he watched how her shoulders hunched in on herself.

He looked up, aware of the guilty look on his face as Alec opened the door, a beam of light from his torch almost blinding him.

Alec glanced between him and Clary and Jace could see the look of exhaustion that passed over his face at the thought of having to keep the arguing group together. Jace reached a hand out for Alec to stumble over to him and the two sleeping bags he'd already set out for the two of them.

"Magnus is taking first watch." Alec told them, and Jace knows he isn't mistaking the softness with which he says Magnus' name. Another thing they'll talk about at a later date, when they're not both in danger of fracturing apart.

Alec sank down next to him to kick off his boots and unclip his weapons belt but didn't place them far out of reach and crawled into his own sleeping bag, turning towards Jace.

"So, what happens now?" Jace asked him, and he couldn't quite fill the hollowness in his voice.

Alec's eyes are closed, and he lies so very still, head and neck curved towards Jace to rest on Jace's sleeping bag, just to be close. When they were younger, and camping with Maryse and Robert, they would share a sleeping bag. Neither liked the dark very much but they both refused to admit it. They're too big now to fit in the same sleeping bags: too long and lanky and gangly to crowd in but they also sleep side by side, sprawled over each other or on top of the other. It's safe, it's them.

"I don't know." Alec murmurs and Jace knows he wasn't supposed to hear that comment. Alec's eyes flicker open and finds Jace's easily in the darkness. Jace pretends the tears in his brother's eyes are a trick of the dim light.

"We carry on." He says a moment later and his voice is stronger but even more artificial.

Clary hears, and she presses the heels of her hands into her eyes. She will not cry. She doesn't know if she can carry on, with every person she leaves behind in their exodus she feels like she is leaving a part of herself behind. First her mother, then Simon, Izzy and now she's losing Jace and Alec and Magnus. She will not cry.

There's a muffled sniff from the other side of the room and Jace almost flinches at the noise. He didn't want to be reminded of the other person in the room and the wave of regret that washes over him almost doubles him over, but it's not strong enough to apologise to Clary and endanger her life.

He's forcing himself away from her, to help her. He's doing this for Clary, he's doing it for a scared girl in a burnt-out skyscraper, for the girl who knew the names of the blooming flowers and held the night sky and his heart in her hands.

"We just carry on."


	13. Chapter 13

**This took a while to grind out, my bad!**

 **Next one will be out in a month of so hopefully, but my A-Level mocks are coming out and if ya girl doesn't get A's she gonna cry.**

 **Hope you enjoy the new installment of Magnus being gay, Alec being a Mom, Jace pushing everyone close to him away and Clary being an independent girl who doesn't need a man.**

 **Thanks for reading and please leave a favourite/follow/comment if you enjoyed!**

Alec is slow to get up the next morning. He doesn't feel Jace next to him and the room is silent. If he stays still – and he does not move at all—he can hear the crackle of a fire. He doesn't know what they're trying to win now, and he's not sure how he can carry on without Izzy.

He was an orphan now, he thought to himself and he hides his face in the bundle of clothes he used as a pillow.

He was an orphan, an only child, the only survivor of his blood family.

He sees Izzy's grin every time he closes his eyes; he can almost feel Max's hand grabbing at his shirt sometimes. He remembers his father's fingers closing around his on the hilt of a knife, showing him how to throw it and the massive hug he was swept up into when he hit a bullseye for the first time. He catches Jace sometimes, humming his mother's lullaby as he collects fire wood or kneels over the pot of meat stew he's stirring, and he can never bring himself to hum along with him.

Alec didn't know if he could ever avenge every face behind his eyelids.

"Alec?" a soft voice cuts into Alec's thoughts and he hears the door rasping open.

Alec sits up, knowing he's shirked his duties long enough and Magnus' head peers around the door. His eyes, rimmed with smudged eyeliner, soften when they set on Alec and he enters, sitting gently on the end of his sleeping bag.

"Jace is making breakfast. He insisted on letting you sleep in." Magnus told him, and Alec nods, and can't find the words to thank him.

Magnus' eyes search his face a few moments longer, but he doesn't ask anything stupid like ''are you okay?'' Instead he pokes Alec's leg and lies down, half on the dusty floor and half right on top of Alec's leg.

"Did I ever tell you about this one time I managed to steal a whole goat from a petting zoo?" Magnus starts and that sentence alone almost makes him laugh.

"You didn't and now I need to know."

"Well I'm about to. Come on, move over." Magnus says, rolling his eyes and wriggles until he is sprawled over Alec's own sleeping bag.

Alec is smiling as he rolls onto his side to let Magnus lie down. "We don't have time." He said reluctantly, glancing at the door. "We have to get food and get going."

Magnus reaches for his hand and Alec can smell woodsmoke on his clothes and almost lets himself relax.

"We have plenty of time, Alexander." Magnus says in a soft voice and his thumb brushing against the back of his hand. "Time is all we have."

Alec gives one last look at the door and lays his head back down on the pile of clothes, almost nose to nose with Magnus.

"So, I'm in the petting zoo, right? I have no idea how I got there, but there's this goat and he's following me up and down the fence and I just think 'Hey I could do with a friend…"

XXXXX

Jace is just short of fuming when Alec comes out into the courtyard, squinting at the light.

Clary is sat cross-legged on the ground and staring into the fire and the four tins in the embers.

Alec's stomach still hurts from laughing hard at Magnus' stupid stories of his life before the apocalypse. His heart twists at the sight of Jace and the second he spends searching their campsite for Izzy before he remembers.

Before he can say anything else, Clary stands up.

She's holding her backpack, her sleeping bag already rolled up and lashed on.

"I'm leaving." She says firmly and louder than strictly needed.

Alec looks at Jace before he says anything and sees the anger in Jace's eyes.

"Where you going to go?" Magnus says, standing just to the side of Alec with a furrow to his brow.

Clary shrugs. Her face is carefully blank and her eyes dart around the courtyard but never once on Jace.

"I'll head up to my step-father's farm. There'll be other survivors. It's, what, a couple of day's walk out?"

Alec can see the fragile bonds of their group shattering like glass and he shakes his head. "You can't just leave—"

"I'm slowing you guys down. I'm putting you all in danger and I don't want to get any of you hurt." Clary sounds sure of herself but her white-knuckled grip on the straps of her bag give her away.

"You can't leave alone!" Alec says firmly, and Clary flips her hair behind her shoulder and Alec swears she's picked that up from Izzy.

"There aren't many zombies out this way, I'll move fast and in the day. I know how to use my knives."

"Jace, c'mon you know she can't leave." Alec turns to his brother in disbelief. Jace was glaring at a cracked cobblestone with a pained look on his face.

"I don't care what she does." Jace places curious emphasis on each word. "She should go to the farm and we can carry on rescuing other people."

Magnus' mouth is half-open, and Alec feels the same.

Clary's façade cracks at Jace's words but she tries to pull it back. "Even if you don't let me leave now, I'll do it in the night. I can't stay with here."

Alec tries to think of another way to convince Clary to stay and comes up short. "Look, Clary, just stay and have breakfast with us."

Clary's shoulders slump just a little and she nods. Alec scrubbed a hand over his face and sank to his knees beside the fire.

Magnus left his side to sit by Clary, talking to her quietly. Alec couldn't quite hear him but he could hear the angry tone in Clary voice. He didn't think that even Magnus with his jokes and charm could talk Clary out of her decision.

Alec poked the tins until he decided they still needed a few minutes and sidled over to Jace who was chipping chunks out of a brick he'd found.

"Jace—" Alec started and Jace threw his rock down and dusted his calloused hands.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jace said viciously. "She can do whatever she wants."

Alec sighed but he knew Jace wouldn't talk about it anymore and went back to his beans.

When he glanced back at Jace a few minutes later, he was staring at Clary with the same pained expression on his face. Clary had turned her back on him and not for the first time, Alec realised that they were losing.

The meal that followed was one of the most awkward that Alec had ever sat through.

He and Magnus shared winces throughout the meal and the clang that Jace set his empty can down with made everyone jump.

"We should get going. Head back to the city and help others." He announced and Magnus slurped from his can in the dead silence that followed.

"Clary," Alec said, ignoring his thickheaded brother not for the first time. "Is there no way you'll come back with us?"

Clary was tracing her finger around the top of her can and Magnus reached out to gently tap her hand before she cut herself.

"I've decided Alec. And I'm sorry, for everything that's happened."

Something caught in Alec's throat and it wasn't just the partially-cooked baked beans.

Alec placed his cup down with a lot more grace than Jace had and turned to rummage through his rucksack. He found one half of the transceiver set and fiddled with the knob on top before handing it to Clary.

"Keep this on channel three, it's the one we use. We'll be in Brooklyn, we won't leave, and we might try and head up to the farm soon."

Clary took it and clipped it onto the side of her own bag. "Thanks Alec, for everything."

"You just turn the thing at the top to get onto the channels, it shouldn't run out of battery, it's got a solar panel in the top—" Alec knew he was rambling but if he could stretch this parting out for as long as he could, maybe he could convince her to stay.

"I know how to work it. I lived with Simon for months, remember?" Clary gave him a smile which Alec just about managed to return. Clary stood up again, and Alec copied her, feeling out of place. Magnus stood as well and Jace's hands turned to fists on the floor.

"Thank you for everything. I really mean it and I'm sorry about Izzy." Alec reached out and hugged her. Clary shook under his hands and her heart was rabbit-quick.

"Be careful Clary. We'll see you again." Clary didn't seem sure, as she wiped her tears away, leaving streaks through the dirt on her face.

"You can still stay biscuit." Magnus said, pulling Clary into a hug. Alec watched her bury her face in Magnus' velvet coat and felt like another part of the cliff he was on was eroding away beneath his feet.

He flicked Jace in the head as Clary pulled away and his brother didn't move. He was picking at a scab on his knuckles and didn't care for the blood that was slowly seeping across his fingers.

Clary watched Jace for a second and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Jace."

Jace froze, and Alec glanced away, feeling like even staring too hard at this moment might cause it to fracture and break beyond repair.

"And I forgive you. I wish it didn't have to be this." Clary's voice wobbled and still Jace didn't not look up, his breaths too measured to be natural.

Clary waved at the three stranger-family and walked out of the courtyard, not once looking back.

Jace slowly raised his head to watch her just before she slipped out of the thick wooden door keeping their refuge safe and for the first time, Alec saw the tears on Jace's cheeks.


	14. Chapter 14

They don't leave the courtyard for a week.

Alec claims it's because they need to rest before heading back into New York, but he doesn't take his eyes off the door Clary left from as he says it.

They eat through their rations, portions cut down by spoonfuls while they aren't walking.

Jace spends hours poring over the map, wanting to find them the fastest way back to New York. He marks small towns as he does, places where there may be pockets of survivors or food that hasn't been raided. Alec secretly worries that someday, stored food will run out, or survivors will be picked off in the zombie-rampant city or they'll be picked off.

He doesn't know what they'll do then. They're trying to help people, but the human population of the city is dwindling, and he fears they'll have to retreat to the camps, where they'll eat through the foods there too.

He and Magnus become even closer, working together in journeys to the surrounding area by their new safehouse for more supplies. Alec tries to keep a safe distance while Jace is around, not wanting to rub in the fact that Jace's… Clary left him, but he knows Jace knows.

Jace gets further and further away from Alec, and he just isn't sure how to get him to talk to him again.

It's been eight days and Alec is losing his control on everything around him. The zombies get closer each night, and he knows that they have to leave.

But he can't turn his back on Clary.

"Clary?" Alec awoke suddenly at the sudden noise but managed to stop himself from shooting upright and reaching for his knife when he realises it's just Jace.

He rolls over, away from Magnus who was drooling onto his own arm as he slept and squinted across the courtyard to see Jace sitting just a few meters away from them with the transceiver set in his hand.

Jace was facing away from them but Alec sees how he lifts the radio up to his mouth to transmit again.

"Clary? It's me, Jace." He says softly and Alec rests his head on his arm as he watched his younger brother.

There are a few seconds of static on the receiver and Jace sighs. Alec's heart was aching for him. He'd been dating Magnus barely a week and he already couldn't imagine being away from him, especially not having Magnus storm off into a warzone alone.

"I know you don't want to talk to me." Static. "But I'm sorry." The white noise crackles on and on and Jace sniffs and rubs at his face. Alec knew Jace would be embarrassed beyond belief if he realised he was being watched and stayed silent.

"Just… Press the button. Let me know you're okay and safe. I'm sorry I told you to go."

Jace looks over his shoulder and Alec slams his eyes shut, feigning a long slow breath. A few seconds later, Jace talks again.

"I can't stop thinking of that night. By the apartments and with the flower. The sunflower?" Alec doesn't remember any sunflower, but he continues listening, albeit guiltily.

"Fuck, you looked so beautiful in the moonlight, you're always beautiful. I wish we could do that again, I wish you hadn't left."

The receiver crackles for almost a minute as Jace waits eagerly for an answer.

"I wish you were here." Jace is talking so softly that Alec has to strain to hear him.

"I miss you." The radio clatters to the floor as Jace buries his face in his hands.

Alec shuffles around and rolls back over towards Magnus and his heat, giving his brother time to grieve.

He closes his eyes, but Jace doesn't speak again.

Alec doesn't bring it up the next day.

It's day eleven when Alec finally admits that they have to get back to the city and its food before they starve.

They pack up their camp and don their backpacks again, and Alec swear it gets heavier with very step they take.

They walk for almost ten hours each day, and sleep for just about the remaining fourteen.

But the shops begin to hold food again and the houses they kick through have cans and bags of rice and pasta in cupboards and Alec can eat without worrying.

It's been fourteen days since Clary left them, and the first time that their receiver finally begins to crackle with static.

Magnus has his gas burner out because it's dangerous to light a proper fire in the back of the café they're in, and Alec was re-organising his first aid kit out of lack of anything useful to do.

He had thought that Jace was asleep on the cushioned benches running along the wall but as soon as the radio pops and a ''Hello? Hello?'' comes through, Jace flings himself up and off the chair.

He snatches up the receiver, even though it was right next to Alec, and presses the button immediately.

"Hello? Clary? We're receiving you, over." Alec scoots closer to hear the transmission clearer and Magnus abandons his cooker to place a reassuring hand on Alec's shoulder.

"Hello, this is the Northern settlement, can you hear us? Over." The voice on the other end is not Clary's and Jace bits on his lip hard, so hard that Alec can see blood bubbling up.

"Is this Clary?" Jace demands and his grip on the walkie-talkie is white-knuckled.

"No, my name is Raphael. I'm the leader of the settlement." Next to Alec, Magnus gasps and his hand squeezes Alec's shoulder. When Alec looks at him, Magnus' eyes are wide, but he shakes his head when Alec opens his mouth to question him.

Alec has so many questions but at the moment, Jace has a stranglehold on the receiver and zero thought to anyone else.

"We found this receiver on a zombie. Do you know a Jace? Over."

Alec sees Jace's face fall, and the horror on his face. Out of desperation, he reached for the receiver and held it up to his mouth.

"Was the zombie a female?" Alec tried helplessly and the static that returns on the line is deafening.

"No." Raphael replies finally. "A boy with white hair. We think he was Jace?"

The sudden wave of relief that crashes over Jace's face breaks Alec's heart. The other boy crumples to the floor to listen in, his chest heaving.

Alec knew what Raphael was talking about at least. Him and Jace had a matching set of walkie-talkies that were labelled by Maryse after the two of them wouldn't stop fighting about whose was whose. He was holding the ''Alec'' one in his hand, and Clary had been sent off with Jace's set.

"That wasn't Jace. Has anyone called Clary arrived there?"

There was another pause before there was a reply and Alec wasn't sure if the radio was struggling with signal or whatever radios ran on, or if the other boy was trying to pick his words carefully as he gave them bad news.

"There's no one by that name here. We haven't had new arrivals in a few days, although she… may be still on her way. If you or your group in the city, I strongly advise you leave to join us. We have a community and plenty of food."

Magnus took what felt like the first breath he'd had in days. Clary wasn't safe, but she wasn't dead. None of them had any idea of where she could be, or why some boy had her radio so close to the settlement. Magnus was still relieved; he should've known she was tougher than any of them thought. He wanted her to be okay, but there were other pressing matters to attend to now.

He held a hand out for the radio and Alec gave it to him without complaint.

"Are you Raphael Santiago?" Magnus asked and bit his lip waiting for the answer.

"Yes. How do you know me?" The boy on the other line replied suspiciously, and even Alec was looking at him in confusion. Jace was staring at the floor trying to calm his breathing, seemingly zoned out of the whole conversation.

"It's Magnus. Are you okay? You got to the settlement?"

"Magnus? Old Man Magnus?" Goddamnit, Raphael was making him look uncool in front of his new friends. "I'm fine, obviously. Are you still in the city?"

"I cannot believe you left me alone in the city." Magnus ignored his question in favour of grilling his old friend.

"I said I was going!" Raphael argued back and Magnus rolled his eyes, wondering if they could make the trip again just to strangle Raphael.

"You said we might go and then you left in the middle of the night." There was a long pause and Alec nudged him.

"You gotta say 'over'." He prompted even though Magnus knew Alec had forgotten to that for the whole of his conversation.

"You left in the middle of the night. Over." He amended. There was another long pause and Magnus knew Raphael was trying to find a way to dig himself out of the hole he was in.

"I guess it could be seen that way." Raphael replied infuriatingly and Alec seemed to be hiding a smile. "I'm glad you're okay though, old man. Over."

Magnus made a grumpy noise. "Me too. Over."

"You should come up to us. It's not safe in the city. We have weapons up here, and a fence."

"A fence?" Magnus snorted and Raphael huffed but he knew what Raphael meant.

"We need to find Clary." Jace said firmly and Alec left Magnus' side to wrap an arm around Jace. Jace leaned in to hide his face in Alec's shoulder and Alec watched Magnus from the floor, his expression more anxious than Magnus had ever seen it.

"I can't hang around all day, old man. Should we keep an eye out for you or not? Over."

Magnus still couldn't quite believe that Raphael had left to seek safety in the settlement a few months earlier and was now somehow running the whole thing.

"We have to find the other member of our party but then the plan is to travel to you. I'll see you soon Raphael. Over and out."

" _I_ say over and out, Mag-" Magnus quickly shut the radio off, and knelt beside his boyfriend and his friend.

"We don't know if she's dead yet." Alec was saying gently and Jace, curled up into a ball of self-deprecation and worry, sniffled. Magnus immediately forced himself to forget it had happened.

"We don't know if she's alive." Jace said thickly. Magnus had no reply for that and lay a hand on Jace's back instead.

The three of them sat like that until the pot of water and pasta boiled over and Magnus' feet were dead and filled with the same static as the radio receiver.

Magnus was the only one to move to stop their dinner burning and as he did, he prayed for the first time in a very long time for Clary to be safe and okay.


	15. Chapter 15

**This just clears up what led to last chapter!**

 **There are two chapters left, most probably posted by the end of next week, but maybe I'll drag it out!**

 **I'm serious though, bring your tissues, I've decided not to make this happy. We're going all out babey.**

 **Thanks for reading and please leave a comment and favourite if you enjoyed!**

ONE WEEK EARLIER

Clary was not okay.

Clary was in the middle of a forest and she was sure she was being followed.

She was somewhat sure it wasn't a zombie, those tended to rush at you without taking care to duck behind trees or make their footfalls quiet. However, another human survivor could be just as dangerous. She'd been lucky with the… with the others. She'd spent a week trying to forget the past few months, picking at the nametag on her walkie-talkie and letting their worried monologues spill into the silence of her campsites.

It never seemed to work. She couldn't forget any of them despite having turned her back on them.

She spun around for the fifth time to see a flash of white hair disappear behind yet another shrub. This time she didn't turn around again but pulled her knife from her belt. She thought of the radio in her bag and immediately pushed the thought away. She didn't need Jace or his midnight laments into the receiver.

Plus, there wasn't much help he or Alec or Magnus could offer her out here.

"Who's there?" she called, her voice loud even to herself in the silent forest.

A man stood up from the undergrowth, unfolding his limbs in a way that instantly made Clary wary, and smiled at her.

They stood about ten meters apart, and Clary took a moment to glance over the man.

She wouldn't even call him a man actually; he was just a few years older than her and far taller. His hair was a stark white that matched his skin and she wondered briefly if he really bleached his hair in the apocalypse. Actually, it was probably natural.

He didn't have a backpack, but he did have a baseball bat that he swung in small arcs at his side. He was slender with skinny arms left bare under his tank-top and she hoped that meant that her 5"2 of fear and unrequited love could overpower him.

"Why are you following me?" Clary demanded, trying to make herself sound more confident than she was.

She had no backup, and nothing more than the few blades she'd been given.

"I wasn't." The boy replied and grinned against in an unnerving way. He took a step forward and Clary tried very hard not to take a step back. Goddamn, this was why her and Simon never left their skyscraper at the beginning. She didn't have any survival skills.

"You've been following me since I got into the forest."

The boy laughed, a genuinely humorous laugh, and his head fell back like there was no spinal support before it lolled to look at her again.

"No, no, I was following you before that." He told her in a matter-of-fact way and her blood went cold. This time she couldn't stop herself from stepping back and the boy took another few steps, his bat's swings becoming wider, harder. They were only a few meters between them now and Clary was running out of options.

"What's your name?" Clary asked, hoping that maybe she could befriend him with her superb social skills and then absolutely leg it when she had a chance.

"I'm Sebastian." He waved loosely and she waved back.

"I'm Clary." She replied, hoping she sounded calm and friendly. She had a feeling she was failing. "Could you put the bat down?" she added after a second and Sebastian looked at the weapon in his hand with some surprise.

"This?" He asked, and Clary nodded, hoping he wouldn't focus on the knife in her own hand.

"Yes, that. Please?" She added, hoping Sebastian was 'weird but harmless' rather than 'weird with a really mean swing'

Sebastian smiled at her again, except it wasn't quite as friendly. "No." He said with a cold, dead voice.

Clary barely had time to stutter a ''What?'' before he was sprinting at her, pulling the bat back for a really mean swing.

He wasn't even within reach for her to slash him with her knife.

Her last thought before the bat connected with her cranium with a hollow _thud_ was of the radio, hooked on the straps of her bag and of Jace and Alec and Magnus who were waiting for her message.

Maybe she should've called Jace back.


End file.
